In Aethan Wills' paintings, the representation of nature is shrouded by the language of abstraction. Unrestrained brushstrokes slowly reveal an abundance of figurative elements such as fruits, branches and weeds that might not be noticed at first. Similarly, Richard J. Butler is concerned with the relationship between abstraction and figuration, which he relentlessly explores through the medium of painting. Landscapes and vessels make a ghostly appearance against vast colour fields whose surface is layered with acrylic and pastel. The meaning of his paintings however does not reside in their subject, but in the myriad of particles and dust that compose their surfaces. Meanings are plural too in Lara Davies’ latest works, which depict the various landscapes she encountered during a three-week long cycling journey through Britain. Changing seas, hillsides and lochs are subjects in their own rights, but these are scenes which also bear the artist’s own memory of a personal and transformative experience. Thomas Cameron’s paintings depict silent silhouettes and fleeting encounters within public spaces. Skilfully rendered in oil paint, these everyday scenes celebrate the overlooked and understated, moments and people hidden in plain sight. The notion of collective desire is the subtext in Emmet Kieran’s portraits of Hollywood starlets from bygone eras. Timeless beauties or everlasting floral compositions, as in Sarah Lederman’s paintings, are not always what they seem. Subverting the Vanitas tradition in which flowers are seen as symbols for transience and death, Lederman celebrates growth and fertility, adding playful elements such as frogs and eggs that symbolise the endless cycle of life. Evocative of celestial and volcanic landscapes, Celeste’s new series of monotype prints pay tribute to the aesthetic moments in life, and to beauty as a revitalising force. The technique of monoprint is also used in Dan Rees’ newly released Ama Divers works on paper, which depict female Japanese divers (‘sea women’) and relate to the artist’s research into the history and cultural associations with seaweed.